Adapted from the UK sitcom Man About the House, Three's Company went through a lengthy development process, in fact the original unaired pilot filmed for ABC is different than the show that aired.
While the unaired pilot had the same set-up, there were a few key differences:
Instead of living in a beachside apartment building in Santa Monica, they lived in a building in North Hollywood.
John Ritter played "David" (not Jack Tripper), an aspiring film maker.
Valerie Curtin played "Jenny" (the "Janet" role), who was an employee of the DMV.
Susanne Zenor played "Samantha" (the "Chrissy" role), an aspiring actress.
One thing that remained the same in the unaired pilot were the Ropers.
The entire pilot was online but taken off. Luckily we still have the intro:
